Contribution of Government Deregulation in the US Financial Market to the Economic Downturn of 2008 to 2012

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Research Report
Contribution of Government Deregulation in the US Financial Market to the Economic Downturn of 2008 to 2012
Kumar, Susmit. The 2008 Great Recession and Deregulation, 2010. Web
The article discusses how elected leaders in the United States created rules favoring financial institutions that resulted to the economic downturn in 2008, and the way casino games played by these institutions play havoc with the ordinary people. Deregulation, which was promoted by the Republicans ever since the 1980s is considered to be behind the 2008 economic crisis. The article indicates that following a number of bank failures at the time of the Great Depression, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 introduced banking reforms such as separation of the banking and other financial companies. However, in 1999, part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 was repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, allowing a financial firm to offer commercial and investment banking as well as insurance services. The article also indicates that when the housing bubble burst, the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) tied to mortgage securities started to send shock waves all across the world market. Consequently, the United States government had to rescue AIG, an insurance firm which was deemed ‘too big to fail’, since its failure would have sent shockwaves through the financial industry because it had insured assets of financial institutions throughout the world according to the article.
This article is important to the research study conducted. This is because it provides an insight on how the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that was designed to prevent a financial crisis, contributed to the financial meltdown, and how the United States government intervened to prevent ‘too big to fail’ corporations from failing.
Morrow, Ross. A Critical Analysis of the U.S. Causes of the Global Crisis of 2007-2008, 2011. Web
This article explains the major causes of the 2007-2008 global financial meltdown which began in the United States. The article argues that a low rate of profit in the United States economy as well as wide economic inequalities resulted to increasing capital flow to the financial sector, and a growing provision of credit to United States employees whose real incomes had declined. The article indicates that financial innovations allowed debt ...